Packaged articles have been known in which an article is held to a card package or the like by an attachment screw or the like. For example, wall plates for switches, receptacles, and other in-wall electrical installations have screws which are supplied with the wall plate and these screws are employed in installing the wall plate in place over an electric box mounted in a building wall. The screws are frequently supplied loose in the package or in a small plastic bag. Frequently the screw or screws are lost in transit or while the article is on display. In other cases, the screws may lodge between the wall plate and card so that the purchaser is not sure if the needed screws are actually in the package.
To overcome these deficiencies and to permit the prospective purchaser to see the wall plate as it appears with the screws in place in the mounting screw holes, a number of schemes have been developed to hold the screws in place as the article is displayed for sale. One such scheme was a heavier than necessary card backing and depends on holding the screw threads in this thicker card.
Another scheme employs a cardboard or similar washer to be placed around the threaded end of the screw and to slide along the screw shank to make it taught relative to the wall plate and card package. One problem of this construction is that it leaves the threaded end of the screw free in the sense of protruding from the rear of the packaged article. A problem which results when the packages are mounted on a pegboard is that the free end of the screw causes scratches on the surface of the next wall plate behind.
A different scheme involves mounting a plastic or paper collar over the free end of the screw. A difficulty with this construction is the difficulty of mounting the collar in the first place and then the difficulty of getting the collar off once the packaged article has been purchased and taken home for installation. The collar rotates with the screw so it cannot be removed by unscrewing unless it is tightly held. To hold it sufficiently tightly, most frequently requires a tool such as a pair of pliers and accordingly complicates the installation.